Composed in the conception of Love before the moon.
なげゝとて月やはものを思はするかこち顏なる我涙かな
nageke tote
tuki ya Fa mono wo
omoFasuru
kakoti kaFo naru
wa ga namida kana |
What grieves me so –
The moon? – when sunk
In thought,
It is a pretext for
My tears, I think. |
The Monk En’i
Topic unknown.
もの思へどもかゝらぬ人もあるものをあはれなりける身の契りかな
mono’omoFedomo
kakaranu Fito mo
aru mono wo
aFare narikeru
mi no tigiri kana |
Deep in thoughts of love
And not suffering, someone
There must be, yet
This pitiful state
Does seem to be my fate. |
The Monk En’i
Topic unknown.
逢ふと見しその夜の夢の覺めであれな長きねぶりは憂かるべけれど
aFu to misi
sono yo no yume no
samede are na
nagaki neburi Fa
ukarubekeredo |
Meeting you I saw
Within a dream that night
And woke not –
The long sleep
Is painful, yet… |
The Monk En’i
Topic unknown.
知らざりき雲居のよそに見し月のかげを袂に宿すべしとは
sirazariki
kumowi no yoso ni
misi tuki no
kage wo tamoto ni
yado subesi to Fa |
I did not know-
From the clouds’ far side
Came the moon
Light in my sleeves
To find its lodging. |
The Monk En’i
In reply:
此の世にて又あふまじき悲しさにすゝめし人ぞ心亂れし
kono yo nite
mata aFumaziki
kanasisa ni
susumesi Fito zo
kokoro midaresi |
In this world
To never meet again-
From the sadness
One on the path
Is sick at heart. |
The Monk En’i
When the Monk Saijū died, on hearing that he had been at peace at the last, he composed this and sent it to the Monk En’i.
みだれずとをはり聞くこそ嬉しけれさても別は慰まねども
midarezu to
woFari kiku koso
uresikere
sate mo wakare Fa
nagusamanedomo |
That he had no pain
At the end-to hear that
Pleases me;
Yet in any parting
There is no consolation. |
The Monk Jakuzen
When the Monk Saijū, a fellow pilgrim, became ill around Autumn time, seeing he had not long to live, Saigyō composed:
諸共にながめながめて秋の月ひとりにならむことぞ悲しき
morotomo ni
nagame nagamete
aki no tuki
Fitori ni naramu
koto zo kanasiki |
Together
Have we gazed and gazed again
Upon the Autumn moon;
To do it alone
Will be sad indeed. |
The Monk En’i
When he was travelling after leaving the world, he composed this on seeing the moon over the sea.
わたのはら遙に波をへだて來て都にいでし月を見るかな
wata no Fara
Faruka ni nami wo
Fedate kite
miyako ni idesi
tuki wo miru kana |
Across the wide sea’s sweep
From afar the waves
Come one by one;
When the capital I left
That is the moon I saw. |
The Monk En’i
When the Monk En’i invited people to take part in a hundred poem sequence, he composed this on drizzle.
しぐれつる眞屋の軒端の程なきに頓てさしいる月の影かな
sigureturu
maya no nokiba no
Fodo naki ni
yagate sasi’iru
tuki no kage kana |
Fallen rain dripping
From the leaning eaves
So shallow that
Swiftly in pours
The moonlight. |
Fujiwara no Sada’ie
藤原定家
Topic unknown.
おほ方の露にはなにのなるならむ袂におくは涙なりけり
oFokata no
tuyu ni Fa nani no
naru naramu
tamoto ni oku Fa
namida narikeri |
All around me
Countless dewdrops: what
Might they portend-when
Those which fall upon my sleeve
Are tears… |
The Monk En’i
'Simply moving and elegant'